Statistical Release 25 August 2015

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015

In this publicationSummary table ........ p2

Licensed vehicles .... p2

Wheelchair accessible

taxis..............................p3

Licensed vehicles per

head.............................p4

Driver licences...........p5

Local trends................. p6

Public satisfaction........ p8

Licensed operators.......p9

Driving licence

policies.........................p9

Background notes.... ..p10

About this releaseThis statistical release presents information on taxis and private hire vehicles (PHV) in England as at 31 March 2015.

Figures are updated every two years through surveying each licensing authority (a unitary or lower tier authority) in England and Wales.

This release refers to England only but data for Wales can be found online

here.

T A X I

The total number of licensed taxi and private hire vehicles and driver licences in England reached record levels in 2015.Total licensed vehicle numbers increased by 9.3% to 242,200 since 2013, the highest number since comparable records were first collected in 2005.

In 2015, 69% of all licensed vehicles in

England were private hire vehicles.

Licensed vehicles in London

accounted for 35% of all licensed

vehicles.

There were 297,600 driver licences in

2015, 12,400 more than in 2013.

242,200licensed vehicles

Ý9.3% since 2013Taxis31%

Privatehire vehicles69%

Licensed vehicles in England

35%London

65%England outside London

297,600driver licences

Ý4.3% since 2013RESPONSIBLE STATISTICIAN: Kelly Edwards 020 7944 3536

FURTHER INFORMATION: Media: 020 7944 3066 Public: 020 7944 3536 Kelly.Edwards@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 2

Summary table

Table 1 summarises the 2015 taxi and private hire vehicles (PHV) licensing statistics. Figures for licensed vehicles, PHV operators and drivers are shownfor London, England outside London and England. These statistics are collected every two years with the last survey being carried out in 2013.

Taxis (or ‘hackneycarriages’) are available for immediate hire, can be hailed in the street

(‘ply for hire’) and accept pre-bookings. Taxis have two types of licences: a vehicle licence (issued to the owner of the taxi) and a driving licence.

Private Hire Vehicles (PHV;‘minicabs’) must be pre-booked and cannot use taxi ranks. It is illegal for PHV to ply for hire. For PHV there are three types of licences: a vehicle licence, a driving licence and an operator licence.

Table 1: Summary of 2015 taxi and private hire vehicle licensing figures compared with 2013

March 2015 figure in thousands and change compared to March 2013Total licensed vehicles 85.3 Ý 18.4% 156.9 Ý 4.9% 242.2 Ý 9.3%

Taxis 22.5 Ý 1.5% 53.6 Ý 5.3% 76.1 Ý 4.2%wheelchair accessible taxis 22.5 Ý 1.5% 21.9 Ý 0.5% 44.4 Ý 1.0%

Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) 62.8 Ý 25.9% 103.4 Ý 4.7% 166.1 Ý 11.8%Licensed PHV operators 3.0 Þ -4.8% 11.8 Þ -3.3% 14.8 Þ -3.6%Total licensed drivers 103.9 Ý 12.3% 193.7 Ý 0.5% 297.6 Ý 4.3%

Taxi-only licences 25.2 Þ -1.3% 36.5 Þ -0.6% 61.7 Þ -0.9%PHV-only licences 78.7 Ý 17.5% 85.4 Þ -2.0% 164.1 Ý 6.5%Dual licences 0.0 0.0% 71.8 Ý 4.3% 71.8 Ý 4.3%

London EnglandEngland outside London

Chart 1: Licensed vehicles by type and area: England, biennial since 2005 (table TAXI0101)

Licensed vehicles

There were 242,200 licensed taxis and PHVs in England in 2015. Just under Further Statistics on the number of licensed

taxis and PHVs in

Scotland (which operates

under a different licensing

regime) are collected by

the Scottish Government

and published in Scottish

Transport Statistics here.

Detailed statistics on licensed vehicles can be found in table TAXI0101.

a third (76,100) of these vehicles were taxis (see chart 1). The number of licensed vehicles increased by 9.3% from 2013, a similar rate of increase seen between 2007 and 2009 (before the economic downturn). Overall therehas been a 31.2% increase in licensed vehicles since 2005.

0

50

100

150

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250

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

PHVsEngland outside Lond4.7%

PHVsLondon25.9%

TaxisEngland outside London5.3%

TaxisLondon1.5%

Ý

Ý

Ý

Þ

Change from2013 to 2015

Thousands

on

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 3

Economic conditions and local licensing polices influence the number of licensed vehicles with considerable variation between areas. Since 2013, around two thirds of licensing authorities recorded an increase in vehicle numbers.

There were 76,100 licensed taxis in 2015, a 4.2% increase from 2013 and a continuation of the long term increase in the number of taxis in England (chart 2). A 1.5% increase occured in London and a 5.3% increase in England outside London.

Licensing authorities are the lower tier or unitary local authorities in England outside London (and Wales for online tables) and Transport for London (TfL).

Chart 2refers to England and Wales data to show the long-term trend in the number of licensed taxis. The rest of this release refers to England only data.

Detailed statistics on licensed vehicles can be found in table TAXI0101.

0

10

20

30

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60

1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Thousands

The number of taxis outside London increased as more district councils licensed taxis following the Transport Act 1985

England and Wales outside London

London

Chart 2: Licensed taxis vehicle numbers in London and England and Wales outside London from 1971 (table TAXI0101)

There was a 11.8% increase in licensed PHVs in England between 2013 and 2015 to 166,100 vehicles, with a 25.9% increase in London and a 4.7% increase in England outside London.

Wheelchair accessible taxis

In England 58% of all taxis were wheelchair accessible in 2015, a small decline (2 percentage points) from 2013. However, the proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles has remained similar across the last decade.

All 22,500 London taxis were wheelchair accessible as required by Transport for London’s ‘Conditions for Fitness’ taxi licensing policy. In England outside London, metropolitan areas had 84% wheelchair accessible taxis with a substantial decline in the proportion of accessible taxis in other urban (36%) and rural areas (13%) as shown in chart 3. Some 175 authorities (61%) required wheelchair accessible vehicles in all or part of their taxi fleet.

Detailed statistics on wheelchair accessible licensed taxis since 2005 for each region can be found in table TAXI0103 and for each local authority can be found in table TAXI0104

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 4

Chart 3: Proportion of taxis that were wheelchair accessible in 2015 by urban/rural classification (table TAXI0104)

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100

London Metropolitan areas Other Urban Rural

%

2015 2013

Licensed taxi and PHV vehicles per 1,000 people

In 2015, on average, there were 4.5 licensed taxi and private hire vehicles per 1,000 people in England. The number of licensed vehicles per 1,000 people decreases as areas became more rural (see chart 4).

Urban/rural classificationOther urban and rural categories were defined using the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urban/rural classification, which can be here.

Metropolitan areasrepresent the Passenger Transport Executives.

0

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4

6

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10

London Urban with MajorConurbation

Urban with MinorConurbation

Urban with Cityand Town

Urban withSignificant Rural

Largely Rural Mainly Rural

Number of vehicles per thousand people

Licensed taxisLicensed private hire vehicles

Urban Rural

Chart 4: Number of licensed taxis and private hire vehicles per 1,000 people by urban/rural classification, England 2015 (table TAXI0105)

Detailed statistics on the number of licensed taxi and private hire vehicles per 1,000 people for each local authority can be found in table TAXI0105.

In London there were 10.0 licensed vehicles per 1,000 people, more than double the national average, with 7.3 licensed PHVs and 2.6 licensed taxis per 1,000 people.

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 5

Of the total, 55% had PHV-only licences, 21% taxi-only licences and 24% had dual taxi/PHV licences, all similar proportions to 2013.

Chart 5: Number of driver licences by vehicle type, London and England outside London, 2005 to 2015 (table TAXI0104)

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2005 2015

Thousands

Taxi driversLondon

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160

2005 2015

ThousandsThousands

Taxi driversEngland outside London

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2005 2015

Thousands

PHV driversLondon

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2005 2015

Thousands

PHV driversEngland outside London

London accounted for the majority of the increase in the number of driver licences, with a 12.3% increase of 11,400 driver licences to 103,900 since 2013. PHV-only driver licences increased by 17.5%. The number of taxi-only driver licences decreased by 1.3% from 2013.

In England outside London, the total number of driver licences increased by 0.5%. Table 2 and map 2 (on page 7) show that this relatively small national increase masked quite large regional and local authority changes. There was a marked decline in total driver licences in Yorkshire and the Humber and a marked increase in the West Midlands, for example.

Table 2: Change in total driver licences (taxi-only, PHV-only and dual) by region between 2013 and 2015, England

Detailed statistics on licensed drivers can be found in table TAXI0101 and for each region in table TAXI0103.

Licensing regionThousands % change compared with 2013

North East 13.4 Ý 2.3% Ý 2.6% Ý 8.9% Þ -6.8%North West 40.9 Ý 0.6% Ý 6.5% Þ -5.2% Ý 14.6%Yorkshire and the Humber 24.8 Þ -4.3% Þ -18.2% Þ -8.5% Ý 6.1%East Midlands 16.7 Ý 0.2% Ý 27.5% Þ -1.8% Þ -2.3%West Midlands 25.2 Ý 4.7% Þ -1.0% Þ -0.8% Ý 16.0%East of England 22.5 Ý 2.1% Þ -7.9% Ý 0.4% Ý 5.8%London 103.9 Ý 12.3% Þ -1.3% Ý 17.5% 0.0%South East 34.0 Ý 0.3% Þ -10.9% Ý 1.4% Ý 5.7%South West 16.2 Þ -1.1% Ý 5.5% Ý 2.3% Þ -6.8%England 297.6 Ý 4.3% Þ -0.9% Ý 6.5% Ý 4.3%

Dual licence

PHV licence

Total driver licences

Taxi licence

Detailed statistics on the number of drivers licences (total, taxi, PHV and dual licences) since 2005 for each region can be found in table TAXI0103 and for each local authority can be found in table TAXI0104.

Driver licencesOverall there were 297,600 taxi-only, PHV-only and dual driver licences in

England, over 12,400 (4.3%) more than in 2013.

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 6

Map 1: Change in total licensed vehicles (taxis and PHV) between 2013 and 2015 by licensing authority, England Detailed

statisticson the number of PHV licences (vedriver and operatonly)) by region cfound in table TAand by local authtable TAXI0104.

East Riding of YorkshireÞ 45.1%

taxi and hicle, or (PHV-an be XI0103, ority in

Regional and local trends

The number of total licensed vehicles increased in 193 out of 293 licensing authorities in England (see map 1 and table 3 for regional changes). These areas accounted for 81% of all licensed vehicles. Taxi vehicles increased in 144 areas accounting for 66% of all vehicles. Private hire vehicles increasedin 177 authorities, which accounted for 81% of all PHV.Table 3: Change in total licensed vehicles (taxi and PHV) by region between 2013 and 2015, England

Licensing regionThousands % change compared with 2013

North East 10.6 Ý 6.8% Ý 4.5% Ý 8.7%North West 32.7 Ý 6.2% Ý 17.0% Ý 2.2%Yorkshire and the Humber 20.0 Ý 1.5% Þ -3.6% Ý 2.8%East Midlands 14.0 Ý 8.9% Ý 17.1% Ý 4.1%West Midlands 19.4 Ý 4.7% Ý 1.4% Ý 6.3%East of England 18.5 Ý 5.3% Ý 1.8% Ý 7.7%London 85.3 Ý 18.4% Ý 1.5% Ý 25.9%South East 28.2 Ý 5.2% Ý 2.8% Ý 6.6%South West 13.5 Ý 1.1% Þ -0.6% Ý 2.7%England 242.2 Ý 9.3% Ý 4.2% Ý 11.8%

Taxis PHVsTotal licensed

vehicles

East Northamptonshire Þ 38.7%

Harborough Ý 116.8%

Shropshire Ý 85.8%

RossendaleÝ 412.7%

ChorleyÞ 47.8%

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 7

The total number of licensed drivers increased in 153 out of 293 licensing authorities in England, covering 72% of all licensed drivers (see map 2). The number of taxi-only driver licences increased in 46 out of 154 areas accounting for 75% of all taxi driver licences. The number of PHV licensed drivers increased in 95 out of 196 areas which accounted for 77% of all PHV drivers. The number of dual driver licences increased in 110 out of 221 areas accounting for 57% all dual licence drivers.

Rossendale Borough Council had the greatest increase in both total licensed vehicles and driver licences in England. This is likely due to the fact that although taxis can only be driven by drivers licensed by Rossendale Council, once a vehicle becomes a licensed taxi, the law allows it to accept pre-bookings in any district in England and Wales.

Detailed statisticson the number of taxi and PHV licenses (vehicle, driver and operator (PHV-only)) on a regional scale can be found in table TAXI0103 and on a local authority can be found in table TAXI0104

Map 2: Change in total licensed drivers (taxi, PHV and dual) between 2013 and 2015 by licensing authority, England

RossendaleÝ 311.1%

RushcliffeÝ 63.3%

KetteringÝ 81.0%

LiverpoolÞ 51.5%

CalderdaleÞ 61.7%

AdurÞ 50.3%

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 8

Passenger satisfaction with taxis and PHVThe Department for Transport collects data on the number of licensed vehicles, drivers and private hire operators. The National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey collects public perspectives on, and satisfaction with, highway and transportation services on behalf of several local authorities to inform performance management and local transport plans.On average, in the areas surveyed in England in 2015, the overall public satisfaction with taxi and PHV was 68%, remaining similar to previous years (see chart 6).

The National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Surveyis in its 8th year and has surveyed 115 local authorities. For more information see: http://nhtsurvey.econtrack.

co.uk/

Detailed statisticsThe National Highways and Transport Survey results can be found here.

The National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey is carried out in July-August of each year. Due to the timing of this release, the 2015 data was unavailable so 2014 data has been used instead.

Chart 6: Overall taxi passenger satisfaction in rural and urban areas and London, England 2009 to 2014

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61

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66

67

68

69

70

2009 2011 2013 2014

Rural

UrbanLondon

England average

% overall satisfaction

Rural areas tended to have the lowest overall satisfaction and in 2014 the average satisfaction was 5 percentage points below the England average. In London, overall satisfaction with taxis and PHVs increased from 67% to 69% between 2009 and 2014.Chart 7: Overall taxi passenger satisfaction compared with total number of licensed vehicles per 1,000 people, England 2009 to 2014 (table TAXI0105)

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60% 65% 70% 75% 80%Overall satisfaction

Number of licensed taxis and private hire vehicles per 1,000 people

Rural

Urban

Knowsley 79.2%

Blackpool 75.7%

County Durham 71.6%

Northumberland 68.4%

Further Statistics Total number of licensed

vehicles per 1,000 people

was used as a proportion

representative based on

population size in each

authorIty and the data

can be found in table

TAXI0105.

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 9

Reliability satisfaction (72%) and availability satisfaction (75%) were at similiar levels in 2014 and much higher than the England average for satisfaction with cost (48%).

Overall taxi passenger satisfaction tended to increase as the number of total licensed vehicles per 1,000 people increased (see chart 7). Therefore, the more taxis and PHV vehicles per person the more satisfied people are with availability, reliability and overall quality of the service. There was no relationship between public satisfaction with cost and the number of total licensed vehicles available.

The number of licensed PHV operators decreased by 3.6% to 14,800 in 2015, and a 10.3% decline from the peak in PHV operators at 16,500 in 2009. PHV operators declined by 4.8% to 3,000 operators in London and by 3.3% to 11,800 operators in England outside London.

• 132 of 291 authorities (45%) required taxi drivers to be licensed everyyear and 79 authorities (27%) licensed every three years

• 45% of authorities required PHV drivers to be licensed every year (131out of 292) and 79 authorities (27%) every three years

Disability training requirement:• 34% of authorities (99) required disability awareness training for taxi

drivers• 29% of authorities (86) had a requirement for PHV drivers

Further Statistics on taxi use in England

are collected by the

National Travel Survey

and are available in tables

NTS0601, NTS0702 and

NTS0303

Private hire vehicle operators accept bookings and are the company with whom the customer makes a contract for carriage.

Further Statistics on driver, vehicle and

operator licensing policy

in each local authority

can be found in table

TAXI0106

Driver licensing policies

Driver licence renewal:

Licensed PHV operators

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015 - Page 10

Background information

Users and uses of these statisticsThese statistics are used within DfT to inform the development and monitoring of policy relating to taxis (for example regarding wheelchair accessible vehicles and quantity controls on taxis) and for occassional ministerial briefing or to answer public enquires. Outside DfT, the statistics are of interest to various industry bodies and provide information for licensing authorities to compare themselves with other areas.

Strengths and weaknesses of the dataThese statistics are collected through a survey of the 315 licensing authorities in England and Wales (lower tier and unitary local authorities, and TfL for London). A copy of the survey questionnaire can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxi-survey-questionnaire

In 2015, full or partial responses were recieved from 314 areas (99%), covering nearly 100 per cent of licensed vehicles. Where a figure was not provided, this was imputed by carrying forward a figure from the authority’s latest response to previous surveys. This means that the national estimates involve very little imputation. Data returns are validated by comparing with previous figures and querying cases that are outside set validation thresholds. This can result in revisions to previous years’ figures, though these are typically minor.

These statistics cover licensed private hire vehicle operators in England and Wales. This includes PHV operators, such as Uber, and enlisted drivers who use such app-based technology. However, we are not able to disaggregate which drivers are using these apps in the figures presented.

In a few cases, authorities report that figures are estimated, or relate to time points other than 31 March. Although these factors are unlikely to impact on the national and regional level figures to any great degree, changes in the data systems used by licensing authorities to store and extract the information can result in fluctuations in the quality of data over time. This is unlikely to be systematic and it is difficult to assess the impact with any precision, however sensitivity analysis suggests changes of +/- 1% in the national figures should be interpreted with caution.

National StatisticsNational Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs: www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html

For details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxis-statistics-pre-release-access-list

Next ReleaseThe next taxi and private hire vehicle statistics release is due to be published 2017.